RW vegetarianism

Its restaurant week time again in RVA. Dine for a cause!
While perusing the menus, I was struck by how potentially difficult it is for vegetarians to really get into this whole event. A quick tabulation (of menus only, the restaurant may be more accomodating) showed rather slim pickings for the non-meat/fish eaters out there. 8 out of the 30 restaurants participating had no possibility for a vegetarian to construct a 3 course dinner...20 had one entree option that could enable putting together one (mostly variants on a theme). 2 had more than 1; but, of this pair, one was a small plates restaurant that could result in only one possible permutation.

Caveat - This is just a random observation and not intended to make a broader point especially in consideration of the parametric constraints in this enterprise. Also, in all likelihood, the market size may be somewhat limited.

The Mayor

If one is looking for a nice, formal dining experience with all the genteel charm and grace of the latitudes, I would be hard pressed to recommend an alternative to Lemaire at the Jefferson. There are options with decidedly more “exciting” food or a more contemporary décor/youthful vibe, but what tips the scales in Lemaire’s favor is the overall stately feel to the dining experience, sans too much stuffiness. While my notes from last year that Lemaire “lacked in general diversity” still ring true for some categories, I must say that after some recent visits, I’m pretty pleased with the level of maturity it has attained and the number of check marks it satisfies on my imaginary dining list.

No dawdling around waiting for water refills, no laminated, flimsy menus, no cramped seating in rickety rooms. The wait staff have a certain degree of professionalism about them, manage to rotate efficiently and are able to add some of little touches one expects in a restaurant attempting for a certain class (folding napkins when a patron visits the restroom for example). After my recent rant on announcing special pricing, I was particularly pleased to see our wait staff recite the prices of each special. The dining rooms can get a little loud (although a conversation in muted tones is easily within earshot), the bar is particularly raucous at times but perhaps it’s the vaulted ceilings or the generally opulent feel to the architecture that seems to mellow things down. The food is pleasant and elegantly constructed, complemented by a very decent selection of wines. VA sourcing (naturally) and regionals like kale, collard greens, mac n cheese, black eyed peas etc make appearances both as sides and in dishes, albeit of a fairly standard repertoire. Currently offered - a rather interesting prix-fixe Picasso tasting menu for $50. Chef Bundy, I guess the overall ambiance of the Jefferson and typical clientele might necessitate a certain degree of circumspection about your menu, but it would be great to see your imagination fly and go wild with a dish or two.

Lemaire is not inexpensive, but it compares very well (and exceeds on certain counts) with several of its peers (@ a price point that includes practically every restaurant in town that successfully (or not) aspires to a certain cred).
And it’s on Open Table!

OPEN

I’ve been a fan of Open Table for several years and I still think it’s a pity that most restaurants in RVA don’t use it (~30 as of today).
From a recent NYT article: “Over the past decade, OpenTable has grown into the dominant online restaurant booking service and now claims more than 20,000 eateries, mostly in the United States. As of March, it says, it has seated more than 200 million diners.
The reasons are clear: You can check online for available tables at top restaurants in most major markets, making a booking and get a confirmation e-mail – all for free, and without having to wait on hold with a (sometimes) snooty reservations host.”
(we’ve been “turned away/off” from quite a few restaurants in the area owing to this archaic policy)
In a down economy with fewer people dining out, its quite fascinating to see how Open Table (Nasdaq: OPEN) has performed relative to the Dow since its inception (trading at 5x its Summer 2009 IPO price and a tripling since last year!). Wish I had some investing acumen!

A few restaurants around have 1000 point tables available many evenings. At a simple calculation of 2000 points equating to a $20 gift certificate*, that’s like a nice ~10% discount at many places, just a click away. Too bad the choices on where one can use it are limited here in RVA.
* - Consider a typical meal for two (sadly still sticking to the general 3-course paradigm and using rough price estimates) (>> half of the Style Magazine’s Top 50 are at this level or higher) to establish a base: Shared appetizer - $8 + Two entrées - $46 + Shared dessert - $8 + Drinks - $18
Total - $70 (add t&t) ~ $90 as the base price (± $) for two.